Normal or Collector's Edition:
Basically, the normal edition is enough, especially if you want the game to test only once.
The Collector's Edition is just something for lovers with a little extra, such as a true map of the game world, or a pretty notebook FFXIV images.
Free the game is no longer now.
After the first 30 days free, you pay 6.99 fee per month + 3 per character.
This fall, there will be at the beginning of the version 2.0, which should resolve any remaining error, another 2-3monatige free trial period, from January 2013, a 'full' charging with 9.99 fee per month.
To Playability:
The course will ultimately always a matter of taste.
There are still some problems which many could acidify the games.
But most of the things about which players have complained to the launch were revised and are now well on normal MMORPG standard.
Here's my resume to:
(+/-) Graphics:
Beautiful, highly detailed graphics even at low settings. The whole world looks very natural, there are no strange deformed body (in case anyone was hat..da ever seen a female character in other MMOs the skull often less than two other round things). Even the movements of the characters were beautifully implemented.
Not good, however, that in the infinitely vast areas of the world every rock and every creek was ge-copy-paste-et and again encountered a every few meters.
For version 2.0, the areas to be completely revised, however.
(+) Player trade:
There is a kind of action house on which you can buy items, offer the other players out there for sale.
Players also have the opportunity to trade directly with other players and offer directly to your character permanently several items for sale.
(-) Communication General:
There is no messenger-like chat window for discussions with other players, everything goes with / tell from the normal chat, even with people who have been in the Buddy List. And who a rain-World Chat is like this here also to miss, because it is here the rule that you can stand half an hour surrounded by 200 other players without even fall a single word.
Communication with other players will take place (in other games = guilds) almost exclusively in party chat and even especially in the linkshells.
Whoever controls not speak English, which I would not recommend this game anyway: At the moment there are almost exclusively international server, and who wants to play with others should at least speak basic English, as most people of English are more or less powerful.
There is an auto-translation although sufficient to form groups, but not to clarify complicated tactics.
There are now, however, at least one server is recommended for EU players on it are for example many German-speaking players. This server is Ragnarok.
With 2.0 to possibly country-specific servers are introduced.
(+/-) Chat:
Normal chat is easy to use, with a single click you select whether you shoutet writes in the group, someone anflüstert, etc.
One problem, however, is the linkshell chat (only if more than one is), since you only have to fight from the main menu by several other menus is to change the anglegte Contact Pearl because it is an otherwise impossible to communicate with another linkshell as applied at the moment. This issue is fixed with the patch end of April 2012.
(-) Linkshells:
These are something like the guilds in other MMORPGs, but they are the absolute horror in FFXIV.
The problems with the chat, I've already explained, but otherwise the functionality is unbearable.
The presence of other members updated, for example, not by itself, one must first look at the detailed list to see how many players are online, it is not possible to invite someone who is not next to a, and it is not possible to expel someone again as long as he is not online and in-game stands next to a.
Content does not exist for linkshells anyway. But in the course of this year there is "free societies" give the more classical Guild same because there is content for it, you can be in only one, etc.
(+) Content:
This is very subjective, but I give the content a (+).
You can do with a single character of all, therefore fighting, crafts, collecting, and thus play countless classes.
There are now a lot of quests, dungeons of different level, several storylines that run in parallel, special bosses etc.
Boring is not one in any case so quickly.
But it is important to mention that this is not used to such levels in other games.
Who, for example, comes from WoW and 30 quests per level expected the rich just so to reach the next level, will be disappointed. Quests are there to learn in FFXIV to learn more about the backgrounds of the world to move forward in the storyline and in order to get special equipment.
In a nutshell: It is not flooded with content, but it is definitely enough there to not get bored.
In addition, the content will be expanded with each patch, the last a new Boss Fight and the defense of small towns, where also collectors and artisans are needed have been added, for example; next - the last patch before 2.0 - the fight against the top villains of the current storyline.
(+) Levels:
Again, you can of course be divided, I personally find it very enjoyable.
One has to come a variety of ways to experience points, at least as a battle class.
There are still the much hated charters (leves), which are now but mostly solo content. You get every few hours 8 proxies for such charters issued and may accumulate a total of 99.
Thus, one can make a few brief times leves if you have little time or the friends are not online.
The same goes for Behest / Monsterhatz where you solo or with unknown players chasing every half hour for Exp and Money certain monsters.
Of course you can also just solo grind, thanks Exp chains when monsters in quick succession and defeated quite worthwhile.
The most effective method is, however, a group to grind.
Grind does not sound like fun, but is not so bad, because monsters close in view of the risk of so many players also form groups and battles will thus not normally get bored.
Currently the level tempo is very fast in these groups, if you want you can come to the maximum level with a class in a week (but you just missed doing all the content along the way, which is why it is recommended in between stop times and other things to try).
(+/-) Combat system:
At the beginning of the fighting is simply awful. While it is an auto-attack was launched, but this is very slow, and Skills that cause the actual damage, it has virtually no.
You fight on level 1 for a sheep which also has this level, so you can good time around 30-90 seconds to cut a single monster with a single skill.
Also total the fighting in the speed remain well behind other MMORPGs and rely more on the players abide by required tactics awake than speed.
The largest contribution to this player combos, which make players more damage and trigger special effects when they use certain skills in a particular order or attack such as from behind rather than head-on.
At higher levels but does exactly incredibly fun, you have many different skills apply to the situation and can adapt. But those who only want to watch as his character with the auto-attack makes opponents Platt, who is wrong in this match.
The use of skills is the way easily, they are in many other MMOPRGs on the shortcut buttons make it 1-0, but also with the gamepad or mouse they can be selected well.
In addition, there are now in addition to normal classes also the job classes which do speak a further specialization possible and support various fighting styles of the players.
(+/-) Slow / Lags:
Except when shopping / selling in NPC shops is no longer a problem, the game reacts to normal soon.
Lags there is usually no, unless of course you have the graphics settings set to a weak PC too high.
However, for a while, a problem known the "Delay" is called and the playing of end-game content for players from America and Europe more difficult, because all servers in Japan are and it takes therefore, to data packets were sent back and forth, which means that one example of an AoE attack moved his character but is hit anyway, because it takes so long until the information of the movement in Japan arrives.
(-) Interface / UI:
The interface is still horror.
It is not possible to open more than one window at a time (ie For example, inventory and Charakterstats), there are still too many nested menus, it ruled still not fast enough and names and symbols are anything but intuitive.
Since it does not help that you can move all parts of the interface to where you like it, it's designed just fine and fit into the world and that already many unnecessary "You really want to make it?" were removed.
It is an entirely new interface also unfortunately be only in 2013, since it from the Progammier-side is apparently impossible, the current continues to improve.
After all, now a quick menu has been introduced to the one with a single click of many functions has access to rather than only have to open the main menu.
(+) Number of players:
FFXIV currently has players in the tens of thousands (active). This is very little for such a large-scale MMO, but since the summer of 2011, we notice a significant increase in returning and also completely new players. One can find easily linkshells and parties. "Empty Server" that were complained here in earlier reviews, it no longer exists.
This is mainly due to the carried out in March 2012 Server consolidation.
The servers are operating at full capacity, at the moment there is for some of the new server even a stop sign to the game quality can not be influenced.
(-) Game Start:
The manual is supplied with the CD for the game absolutely not helpful, it only serves to navigate the registration process.
The registration process has been repeatedly complained here, and he is unfortunately actually still so cumbersome as described, and probably nothing to it also change.
If you've finally times an account and the game from the CD to the PC loaded (there is no official download of the game, only a code to buy makes here so no sense), you can sit for days on end because, downloading patches, if you do not by chance someone knows of shows an unofficial downloads because the peer2peer patcher works poorly, even if you know how to open the required ports.
The character creation is very limited with little difference in bodies and facial features and hairstyles to choose only 5-8, but after all, color can be different from other well, because there are really a lot of choice.
Then if you're finally in the game, waiting for a very good, understandable tutorial menu, movement, camera control and fighting a.
This is new, which is why it was not mentioned in most reviews.
After the tutorial but you should start to take good care what NPCs say so because FFXIV is not a game that one adopts the hand and all shows and explains. The entry is made the player far from easy and it is recommended to help to Shouten / to find a nice linkshell, which may explain a many.
(+) Controller vs. keyboard vs. mouse:
The game was originally designed for the controller-controller, but can also easily play almost exclusively with the keyboard.
Use the mouse on the other hand it is not quite so simple, as the sighting of the opponent is then very difficult and to scroll through the inventory can last forever.
But you play with mouse and keyboard combination, which indeed for PC gamers should be the rule, as there is no such problem.
(+) Payment:
Not needed if you ClickandBuy account to play FFXIV.
You can use Crysta, since there is then UltimatePay about 80 different payment methods to choose from.
If that is too indirect, can also pay by credit card directly to SE.
Many people have also annoyed about that 3 euros are required per character. This makes sense in the context that you can do everything with a single character and not like in other games has a fixed class and a new character needs to play another.
(+) Bugs:
Will there always be in play of course, but so far there are not too many in FFXIV, and a few are usually not serious and are fixed quickly. If there really were a lot right after the release, so they have been already fixed.
(+) Music:
A matter of taste. FF fans are with the tracks from Uematsu & Co. can practice tricks, they also fit well in each of the areas are very atmospheric and almost all so long that you do not feel it has to be repeated continuously. (One exception is, however, the chocobo music!)
Background noise is very rich in detail and provide a nice atmosphere and there are events each special music event period.
But who wants to basically listen to any music / want to hear your music, you can adjust the settings exactly what he wants to hear and what is not.
(+/-) Equipment and economy:
In all major cities there are equipment for beginners to buy.
With higher levels you can then buy his equipment either themselves making or in the market areas of other players.
To complain about are only the prices that are so high at the NPCs except for Lvl 1 equipment that a beginner they can ill afford, which incidentally also applies to the sale of players.
This is because a lot of players have a lot of money because you patch before 1:18 problems could accumulate countless millions, now beginners but difficult to get to larger sums Gil.
(+) Crafting:
The complicated recipes have been simplified.
Experience gets the character and quality of the final product are now strongly influenced by "quality value" which you can influence by crafting skills. Simple sit and Enter Press functions as not, the player is required to pacify unstable elements, to reduce the wear of the material and the like.
This has been brought in my opinion biggest drawback of the game in order.
(+) Storyline:
There is a main story that goes up to lvl 46 and yet has no real final, that is because that this story only after 2.0 to proceed. The story is told by a lot of beautiful cutscenes and has three different origins, depending on which city you start (I have in the free phase, all three played out with different characters).
In addition, you get through the quests additional background information on the main story and the world in FFXIV plays.
With state companies a second story strand was introduced, along with something unique:
At the moment there is in FFXIV a live story to the coming of the next era of the shadow.
This story is expanded patch to patch, and NOW ONLY playable, after the great changes with version 2.0 it will disappear and will no longer be playable.
With the introduction of job classes also more longer quest lines have been implemented.
Also in the Story Missions interesting approaches such as negotiation rather than fighting and the like.
However, if you want to read a little and no cut scenes like that will not come here to taste.
(+/-) Technology and support:
GMs are around the clock in every game-language available, but you can wait for a response before 20-30 minutes.
Then the GMs are but mostly very friendly and helpful and insist not only on standard answers.
Technical Support outside of the game is likely to have more difficulty.
(+/-) General:
- The game still crashes off if you want to use Alt + Tab
- There were already introduced simple indicators that show the actual level of the mobs instead of bright colors that can mislead, and a (this time, however, again color-based) system indicates that if a monster aggrot and if so, who
- Game settings have been enhanced, but much still needs to be done on the external FFXIVconfig
- "Fatigue", so that after long gaming does not get any more Exp, was abolished
- Level-curve is exactly the opposite as in any other MMORPG at the moment, it begins very flat and only later more steeply, ie it takes a long time and is very tiring from lvl 1 to 10 to play from lvl 40 to 50, however, it goes fast and fun, making it very difficult for new players to get started
- "Final Fantasy" feel, there are now more than enough since you 1. Now the leisure has to concentrate on the game instead of fighting with the game mechanics, and many well-known 2nd FF elements were introduced such as Chocobos (yes There are mounts!) or Ifrit
SUMMARY:
There are still little things unpleasant.
Overall, the game is now but so much fun that you can get over easily see :)
With version 2.0 the end of 2012 will be presented to us a completely redesigned game that is supposed to have solved all these minor and major problems. I recommend basically, the game at the latest to see. However, not to forget is that not everything is already in the introduction will be perfect.
But at the moment I would recommend it to others.
Now it meets all the basic requirements of today's MMORPGs, and who dares it now already to play experienced something unique with: a eklusive storyline for those who play to version 2.0, an exclusive mount that you can get not later, and just this special experience to be active in a game that every few weeks going through big changes.
This has sometimes its unpleasant aspects, because one has to, for example, used to a new combat system, but it's definitely an interesting experience :)
Character data will be stored, so it does not hurt to check it out now and then perhaps to put again to 2.0 aside, if you are still not satisfied.
4 of 5 stars there by myself for Final Fantasy XIV, because it is fun and worth playing, some still existing bugs / problems but take care now and then continue for a little frustration, so I can not give him a 5/5 star.
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